The board has decided to enter a three-year contract with Wade Shows Amusement, a Detroit-based carnival company who will provide attendees with the traditional carnival experience, David Rachowicz, the director of the Kalamazoo County Parks department.

“There are going to be some important changes, the biggest is the hours of operations,” Rachowicz said. “We are also going to change the layout of the grounds and we are still working on that.”

The Kalamazoo County Fair previously ran from 3 p.m. until 11 p.m. but this year on Aug. 5 to 10, the fair will open and close earlier in the day. The new hours of operation will be from noon until 9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 1 p.m. until 9 p.m. on Saturday.

“The other thing is we are going to have a different focus for each day of the fair,” Rachowicz said. “The main idea is that the main expo room is going to have activities focused on the theme for the day.”

Some of the themes for the Fair Rachowicz mentioned are community day, flower and garden day, farm day and kids’ day.

“The other thing we really talked about last year was really putting emphasis on the 4-H program,” Rachowicz said. “So especially on farm day, we really hope to focus on those events that the kids are doing.”

The entertainment will also change this year and will feature musical performances from local artists. Rachowicz said the nine-member board that was appointed by the Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners last year has decided to move away from the traditional fair entertainment of monster truck rallies and rodeos for and will focus on music in 2013.

“We are working on the lineup,” Rachowicz said. “We are really trying to add entertainment and incorporate the entertainment throughout the event.”

These changes come as efforts to increase Kalamazoo County Fair attendance that has been steadily declining over the years.

“I feel really good where we’re at,” Rachowicz said. “We have a good value to attract people from our community to come and be part of the event.”

Theresa Ghiloni is a reporter at MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette.
Contact her at tghiloni@mlive.com.